Medical device failure detection and warning system

Abstract

A failure detection and warning system for monitoring a medical device wherein the system includes means structured to passively or actively detect faults occurring in the medical device being monitored, and wherein the fault includes an unprogrammed and / or undesired shut off of the medical device being monitored or an unprogrammed and / or undesired shut-off of the output of the medical device being monitored by the system.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority of Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 518,027 entitled “Medical Device Failure Detection and Warning System”, filed Nov. 7, 2003.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to medical devices and, more specifically without limitation, to implanted medical devices.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]The advent of microprocessors has stimulated proliferation of implantable medical devices for monitoring and treatment of cardio-vascular and neurological diseases; examples of such devices are cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), nerve stimulators, brain stimulators for Parkinson's disease and tremor therapy, pain therapy stimulators, spinal cord stimulators, cochlear stimulators, prostheses, infusion pumps, and devices for warning of seizures, syncope or falls. Verification of the functional status of these devices can ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a system for detecting, warning, and logging failures of implantable medical devices. The system operates autonomously from the device being monitored and has an independent power source. It can detect and log interference, such as electromagnetic energy, and requires a specific sequence of commands for disablement. The system monitors or interrogates the device at prescribed points in time and takes appropriate actions, such as warning or shutting down the device, if it detects an unexpected or undesirable behavior. The system also maintains a log or diary to record the details of the events it detects. Overall, the system is reliable, durable, and well-adapted for the proposed usages.

Problems solved by technology

Despite their technical sophistication, unintentional or accidental shut off, or non-user programmed changes in recording / detection or stimulation parameters (e.g., caused by radiation, electromagnetic or electrostatic discharges, and power line interference) remain as serious, unaddressed problems.

Of all these potential problems, inadvertent or accidental shut-off of the device or of its output is the most difficult to address because of its unpredictability and also the most serious because of the consequences these failures may have on subjects with potentially fatal cardiac or neurological diseases; this is particularly true if their manifestations are intermittent and unpredictable, as is the case with cardiac arrhythmias and seizures.

The inability of present state-of-the-art devices to automatically detect failure is particularly egregious, especially for devices programmed to operate only in response to specific events, such as demand pacemakers, ICDs, and certain neuro-stimulators.

While causes of accidental shut-off of a device's power or of its output have been identified and patients are instructed about potential hazards and safety issues regarding exposure to sources of electromagnetic energy, it is very difficult, if patients are to lead a normal life, to avoid these sources and the risk of accidental interference with the normal operation of the device.

To summarize, in spite of the highly advanced features programmed or built into state-of-the-art medical devices, none have the capability to immediately and automatically detect and communicate the occurrence of failures or of improper functioning to the user.

Failures are most dangerous and most likely to occur when the device is conducting an unsupervised operation, which is generally the predominant operating mode of such devices.

Once failures or faults occur, they may remain undetected until the next scheduled user-initiated interrogation or the occurrence of a serious or fatal adverse event, whichever occurs first.

The prior art in the area of device status diagnostics provides means to inform the user of impending delivery of electrical currents, changes in programmed parameters (identifiable only during interrogation) and low battery by using audible or visible alarms, low-voltage “tickler” stimulation, or vibration, but no means to detect accidental device or output shut-off and report them as soon as they occur.

Several other patents, namely U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,067,473, 6,450,172, 5,891,180, and 6,247,474, mention using audible signals to deliver messages related to low battery, impending delivery of therapy, and acknowledgement of programming to user, but none of these patents provides a method or program for automatically detecting and warning the user, without delay, that the monitoring / therapeutic medical device has failed or that the output has been shut-off.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,468 discloses a different approach via attaching a protective device to reduce the effects of RF or electrostatic energy on a medical device which, although useful, does not provide patients with the necessary protection and warning in case of failure.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,796 discloses means, using externally generated pulses and internal counters, to prevent extraneous signals from changing any device parameter by accident but, if an unplanned change does occur, there are no means to detect these changes and warn the user.

Some of the alarm conditions are low battery, empty reservoir, and hardware failure, such as CPU failure using a periodic watch dog timer and over / under delivery of drug.

However, that patent application does not disclose or teach how to detect and warn automatically of a device output shutoff or of a device reset, specifically if the fault is not associated with hardware failure.

Another, U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,196, discloses methods for detecting abnormal behavior of timing circuits in a medical device by using two different clocks and comparing their pulse counts, but it does not address non-timer-related problems, such as failure of output or accidental reset.

All of the above-cited prior art devices fail to operate as programmed when the devices are shut off or are reset accidentally or when the primary output of the devices fail due to external disturbances such as electromagnetic interference, electrostatic interference, radiation or some other unknown reason.

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